This isn’t the first time Monsanto (now Bayer) has tried to use the US legislature to avoid what was going on in the courthouse. The “Farmer Assurance Provision” slipped in to the 2013 budget also shielded Monsanto from court rulings, and was more well known as the “Monsanto Protection Act”. That lasted only 6 months, but that trial run (pun intended) worked for them, and they’re at it again.
| Issue | Monsanto Protection Act (2013) | 2026 Farm Bill |
| Legal mechanism | Required USDA to allow continued GMO planting even after adverse court rulings | Limits lawsuits + blocks state-level legal action against pesticide makers |
| Judicial power | Overrode court injunctions in specific cases | Preempts courts indirectly by removing legal pathways (failure-to-warn claims, etc.) |
| Scope | Narrow (GE crops, temporary permits) | Broad (pesticides, labeling, regulatory authority, potentially AI/data systems) |
| Duration | Temporary (6 months) | Likely permanent statutory change |
| Industry benefit | Protects biotech seed companies | Protects pesticide manufacturers + agribusiness + possibly ag-tech firms |
| Public framing | “Protect farmers from crop destruction” | “Create uniform labeling / regulatory certainty” |
| Critic framing | “Special-interest loophole” | “Liability shield + federal takeover of safety standards” |
When Bayer bought Monsanto, they set aside billions knowing they would have to pay out for the lawsuits swelling across the country from farmers with cancer after using their products. Shareholders of Bayer sued the company after the acquisition, knowing this was bad business, and were given a $38 million settlement.
Breaking down the worst part: 1986 Act-style Liability Shield (Section 10205)
- What’s happening: Bayer (which bought Monsanto) is losing tens of billions of dollars in state court cases over Roundup causing cancer.
- They’re doing everything they can to STOP the lawsuits.
- They are pushing state bills across the country for liability-shields like the vaccine industry has with the 1986 Act.
- They tried to put the same shield in the federal budget, but Americans found out, got loud, and said “NO!” and it was removed.
- Now they’re at it again by slipping in a liability shield in another gigantic (800+ page) bill, trying to change the rules in congress because they can’t win in courts.
- They’re doing everything they can to STOP the lawsuits.
- Why this matters: If the Farm Bill passes with this language, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court right now would be dismissed because the law changed and the plaintiff with cancer who won in lower courts would no longer have a legal basis for his claim. No one else would either, completely ending accountability for the poisoning of Americans by a massive international company that values profits over human lives.
Section 10202 would effectively shield pesticide manufacturers from lawsuits alleging injury or death from using their products, just like the vaccine industry’s “1986 Act.” And it’s the same scenario too – Americans are getting cancer or other illnesses and dying because they used certain pesticides without knowing the same safety information the industry knew; Americans are suing and winning. So Big Ag is working to end-run the courts and change the law instead, to stop the lawsuits. Bayer (which acquired Monsanto), for example, has paid out tens of billions of dollars in lawsuits from Americans with cancer after using Roundup, and they are not done. Section 10205 would stop states from being able to supplement and fact-check EPA labels and safety assessments, and eliminate American’s 7th Amendment right to a trial for injury. It would stop a case before the Supreme Court right now by saying the federal government is the final and only say in these claims. The section appears to allow liability, but the conditions are narrow and unlikely – the company must have knowingly committed fraud and already been penalized under FIFRA.
The Farm Bill is moving, and Big Ag is hoping MAHA won’t catch up. The 800-page bill was dropped on the Friday before a holiday weekend, when the House was scheduled to be at home in their districts the whole next week, and announced to have a committee hearing on Monday February 23, 2026. The pesticide shield was voted to be kept in at 1 am ET after many had gone to sleep, with no discussion.
Conclusion
Industry is pulling out all the stops. It affects their bottom line, their market share, for transparency and science to be disclosed, for toxic load to become an issue, for health to be a political priority – all of these things affect the industry. That’s why we’re seeing this court case [Describe Durnell] eclipsed by a Farm Bill provision that makes the decision for the court.
The industry is mad, and pulling all political levers. So we have to get loud now. If industry is the only ones providing “solutions” to Congress, and to our state lawmakers, and to the executive branch, then the outcome will not be good. Not for America, not for transparency, not for accountability, or long term health.